Alaska. — Muir. 289 
The coast climate is remarkabl}- bland and temperate. It is 
rain}', however, but the rain is good of its kind; mild in tempera- 
ture, gentle in its fall, filling the fountains of the streams, and 
keeping the whole land fresh and fertile. While anything more 
delightful than the shining weather after the rain — the great round 
sun-da^'s of June, Jul}' and August, can hardl}' be found elsewhere. 
Strange as it may appear, many who are looking to Ital}^ for health 
had better turn their ej'es to Alaska. An Alaska mid-summer day 
is a daj' without night. In the extreme northern portion of the 
territory the sun does not set for weeks, and even as far south as 
Sitka and Wrangel the ros}- colors of evening blend with those of 
the morning, leaving no darkness between. Nevertheless the full 
da}^ opens slow!}-. A low arc of colored light steals round to the 
northeastward with gradual increase of hight and span, the red 
clouds with }'ellow dissolving edges subside into hazy dimness, 
the islands with ruffs of mist about them cast ill-defined shadows 
and the whole firmanent changes to pale pearl-gra3^ 
As the da}' advances toward high noon, the sun flood pouring 
through the damp atmosphere lights the waters and sky to glow- 
ing silver. Brightly now pla}' the ripples about the edges of the 
islands, and over plume-shaped streaks between them where the 
water is stirred by some passing breeze. On the mountains of the 
main-land and in the high walled fiords and canons still brighter is 
the work of the sunshine. The broad white bosoms of the glaciers 
glow like molten silver, and their crystal fronts and multitude of 
icebergs are kindled to a blaze of irised light. 
You are warmed and awakened into sympath}' with all the 
world. Through the midst of the brooding silence the life and 
motion about you comes to mind — the weariless tides swaying the 
dulse over thousands of miles of sea-meadows, the foaming rivers, 
the swift floods of light through the satiny sky, the marvelous 
abundance of fishes, the wild sheep and goats on a thousand grass}' 
ridges above the forests, bears feasting in the berry tangles, the 
beaver and mink and otter far back on many a rushing stream, 
Indians and adventurers pursuing their lonely ways, the leaves of 
the forests feasting on tlie sunbeams, and the glaciers in glorious 
array fashioning the mountains, extending the domain of the sea, 
tracing valleys for rivers to flow in, and grinding the rocks to soil 
for fertile fields for the use of life to come. 
Through the afternoon the day grows in beauty. The air seems 
